If you were the victim of a violent crime in Missouri and have filed a case against your offender, you may be in a position where you feel helpless. Information and updates can be hard to come by and the hours, days, and weeks can seem to crawl by as you wait to find out how the case resolved. Luckily, there are ways in which you can track the offender’s case yourself. We’re going to tell you about those options today.

If you want to track an offender’s case as it moves its way through the criminal justice system in Missouri, you have two options: Vinelink and Missouri Case Net. Beyond working with the prosecutor or with the victim’s advocate, you can use these online options to track a case and keep notified of case updates.

The Missouri Crime Victim’s Compensation Program is designed to financially assist victims who have sustained bodily or psychological injury in paying for reasonable medical expenses, counseling expenses, funeral expenses, and lost wages or loss of support after experiencing a violent crime. To apply for this compensation, victims need to fill out an application. Here is some information about the application process and how eligibility is determined:

The first thing you’ll need to know is that the application must be filed with the office within two (2) years of the crime date, or in cases involving persons under 18, within two (2) years of discovery. The term “discovery” here refers to the date when the event occurred or in the case of a loved one whose life was lost, the date the event was discovered.

It’s no secret that when it comes to education, entrepreneurship, and industry, those of us who live and work in Columbia, Missouri know how to get down to business. That being said, we also know how to party. Stroll the streets of downtown Columbia during a major holiday or Mizzou sports weekend, and you can definitely see the alcohol flowing freely. Though our law enforcement has made great strides in the past several years in reducing the number of drunk driving fatalities and arrests, we still have a long way to go to get that number down to zero.

On a national level, there were nearly 10,000 alcohol related driving fatalities in 2014. 205 of these occurred in Missouri, ranking us in the top 10 for drunk driving for that particular year. Add these statistics to our extremely low beer and wine taxes (2nd and 3rd lowest in the nation, respectively) and you have a toxic brew.

Teenagers who can drive often have reckless driving behaviors. They’re most likely to drink and drive, or drive without wearing a seatbelt. About 6,000 teens die in car accidents each year, and teenagers are more likely to crash when other teenagers are in the car.

We all go into bars and clubs expecting to have a good time. We expect that the bar staff and bouncers are trained to keep us safe and to watch out for any signs of trouble. Unfortunately, many staff members and even bouncers are not trained to properly handle bar fights that happen. Even worse, some bouncers actually end up hurting members of the general public when they try to break up fights or make things worse when restraining people they think are fighting. Sometimes these bouncers believe they have a free pass in their job and are able to use any force necessary to restrain people.

Know this: If you are assaulted by another patron in a bar, if a staff member assaults you, or if you are assaulted by a bouncer at a bar, you have rights.

Drunk driving leads to 28 deaths each day in the United States. It’s taken more than 10,000 lives per year. With a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .02, you’re already losing judgment and feel more relaxed than usual. As the BAC gets higher, you steadily lose more control. But whether or not your BAC is .02 or .15, you’re not in any condition to drive. Unfortunately, people might still think they’re in good condition to drive, so they do and run the risk of injuring or killing themselves or others on the road.

The holidays are a busy time of year with gift-giving, decorating, and spending time with family and friends. There are so many ways to celebrate this time of year, and you might not know everything that your city does during the holidays.

Columbia, Missouri has many holiday events, local shops to get gifts, delicious bars and restaurants, and close Christmas tree farms that will fill your holiday season with festive cheer. Want to know the best places to get your holiday game on? Read on! It’s our 2017 ultimate guide to holiday fun in Columbia, MO!

If there’s anything you feel we’re missing, do us a favor and drop us a line! We’ll be sure to add it in.

Car accidents cause many kinds of trauma. You might expect to deal with physical injuries, like bruises or soreness, but you could sustain other kinds of injuries.

Emotional trauma affects your mind. When you’re suffering from emotional trauma, everyday activities might seem more difficult, your temperament could be different, and you might not connect these behaviors to the car accident.

One of the first things our firm looks at when investigating a case is whether you or a loved one is limited in bringing a lawsuit for personal injuries. If you or a loved one are the victim of an assault or some other criminal activity and are seeking compensation for your injuries, then you should know that one of the most important things affecting your ability to bring a case is the statute of limitations. A statute of limitation is a law which limits the amount of time for you to bring a case against a person who injured you or a loved one through reckless, negligent, or intentional action.

In Missouri, a criminal act which caused you or a loved one harm would likely be considered an “intentional act”. Under Missouri law, there is a much shorter time period to bring a case involving harm caused by the intentional acts of another person. As a victim of an intentional act, like an assault or some other crime, you are required bring a case against the person causing the injuries within two years.

When you go to a bar, restaurant, grocery store, or any other establishment you expect that you will be safe coming and going from your vehicle. However, even with security cameras, violent crimes occur in areas where there is inadequate or no security and opportunity for criminals to attack. Many injuries occur during muggings, assaults, robberies, and other violent acts on parking lots. These injuries may include, but are not limited to, broken bones, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, eye injuries, injuries on the neck, face, and other exposed areas.

Unfortunately, the lasting affects of these assaults may lead to PTSD or other mental trauma that requires counseling. As a result of these injuries, medical bills and anxiety pile up while the victim goes on and tries to live his/her life. Oftentimes the assailant flees and is never caught. Or, even if the criminal is caught, he/she doesn’t have the financial means to cover the victim’s medical bills. The question then becomes whether the parking lot owner should have done more to protect people on the premises.

Reviews

Mike and his staff did an incredible job with my personal injury case. Will be recommending to anyone I know that would find themselves in my circumstance.

John Fisher

14:55 03 Apr 18

Mike Campbell is an inspiration to trial lawyers. I've known Mike for 3 years and as a fellow plaintiffs' lawyer, I have been very impressed by Mike's integrity, honesty and skills as a trial lawyer. Mike is simply a decent, caring and compassionate person and someone I enjoy being around.If you get the chance to hire Mike Campbell, you can be rest assured that you've made an excellent choice.

Olivia Moses

21:03 22 Mar 18

Mike is an incredible attorney and very helpful. I definitely recommend! I had a great experience and am so thankful for his help.

Gary Burger

19:34 06 Mar 18

Mike and his team are great lawyers who fight hard for their clients and obtain great results. I highly recommend them.

Guy DiMartino

00:33 21 Feb 18

Mike is an excellent attorney and my referral source in the Columbia area. If you have the need for a criminal defense lawyer or if you’ve been injured in an accident, don yourself a favor and contact Mike.

Nathan S.

22:27 11 Jan 18

I highly recommend Mike as an attorney. He is honest, trustworthy and responsive.

Ryan Stephens

21:15 15 Sep 17

Knowledgeable, eager, dedicated, and friendly are a few words I'd use to describe the experience in working with Mike. Not only is he extremely good at what he does, but Mike is also personable and professional.

DJ mixon

22:29 21 Mar 17

Helped me with My traffic case and did a great job. Felt like he really had my best interest in mind. 10/10 would call on Mike Campbell

Patrick Campbell

00:41 22 Jun 16

Very professional. Fantastic at what he does. Will go the extra mile for you when a lot of lawyers won't. If I could rate over 5 stars I would.